Codrus

“ His odes are still extant, and the uncommon sweetness and elegance of his poetry have been the admiration of every age and country. He lived to his 85th year, and, after every excess of pleasure and debauchery, choked himself with a grape stone and expired. Plato says that he was descended from an illustrious family, and that Codrus, the last king of Athens, was one of his progenitors. His statue was placed in the citadel of Athens, representing him as an old drunken man, singing, with every mark of dissipation and intemperance. ”

“ God became man in order that He might suffer and thereby redeem us. Codrus, the king of Athens, may to a certain extent be compared to Our Lord. During his reign the realm was invaded by enemies, the Dorians. ”

“ Our poet was born in the city of Teos, in the delicious region of Ionia, and the time of his birth appears to have been in the sixth century before Christ. He flourished at that remarkable period when, under the polished tyrants Hipparchus and Polycrates, Athens and Samos were become the rival asylums of genius. There is nothing certain known about his family; and those who pretend to discover in Plato that he was a descendant of the monarch Codrus, show much more of zeal than of either accuracy or judgment. ”

“ Pandion was the king whogave his daughters, Procne and Philomela to the kings of Thrace, in order to befriend the barbarous peoples with a marriage tie. Theseus was the son of Aegeus, who killed the Minotaur. Demophon was the son of Theseus, fought gainst Ilium with the Greeks. Codrus was the king who sacrificed himself during the Peloponnesian War in obedience to the Oracle of Apollo for the health and safety of his fatherland. Pisistratus, a strong and wise man, who espoused the populist cause against the leading men, established a tyranny, and administered it very justly. ”

“ The Sabines also placed among the gods their first king, Sancus, [Sangus] , or Sanctus, as some [Pg 239] call him. At that time Codrus king of Athens exposed himself incognito to be slain by the Peloponnesian foes of that city, and so was slain. In this way, they say, he delivered his country. For the Peloponnesians had received a response from the oracle, that they should overcome the Athenians only on condition that they did not slay their king. Therefore he deceived them by appearing in a poor man's dress, and provoking them, by quarrelling, to murder him. ”

“ Nor did the thought of codfish, and especially boiled codfish, appeal to me greatly. I have no settled antipathy to the desiccated tissues of this worthy deep-sea voyager when made up into fish cakes. Moreover that young and adolescent creature, commonly called a Boston scrod, which is a codfish whose voice is just changing, is not without its attractions; but the full-grown species is not a favourite of mine. ”

“ The people shouted; Lepidus turned pale.
'Ho!' said Clodius, 'the game is nearly over. If Eumolpus fights now the quiet fight, the other will gradually bleed himself away.'
'But, thank the gods! he does not fight the backward fight. See!—he presses hard upon Nepimus. By Mars! but Nepimus had him there! the helmet rang again!—Clodius, I shall win!'
'Why do I ever bet but at the dice?' groaned Clodius to himself;—or why cannot one cog a gladiator?'
'A Sporus!—a Sporus!' shouted the populace, as Niger having now suddenly paused, had again cast his net, and again unsuccessfully. ”

“ A large codfish, with a broad and sunny smile and his bosom full of rock salt, is tied in the creek to freshen and fit himself for the responsible position of floor manager of the codfish ball.
A pale chambermaid, wearing a black jersey with large pores in it through which she is gently percolating, now goes joyously up the stairs to make the little post-office lock-box rooms look ten times worse than they ever did before. She warbles a low refrain as she nimbly knocks loose the venerable dust of centuries and sets it afloat throughout the rooms. All is bustle about the house. ”

“ There by great good luck he ran into the Doctor, who had come from St. Anthony in his little steamer the Strathcona.
"You can catch codfish with a hook and line," explained the Doctor, "but it would take too long for the fishermen who have to get their living from the sea.
"Most of the time they use a great big net, called a 'cod-trap.'
"It's like a room of network without a roof. It has a door, and the cod are steered in at the door by another net which reaches from the cod-trap to the rocks." ”

“ His son Kodrus was the last Athênian king; and Nêleus, one of the sons of Kodrus, is mentioned as the principal conductor of what is called the Ionic emigration from Athens to Asia Minor. [247] It is certain that during the historical age, not merely the princely family of the Kodrids in Milêtus, Ephesus, and other Ionic cities, but some of the greatest families even in Athens itself, traced their heroic lineage through the Nêleids up to Poseidôn: and the legends respecting Nestôr and Periklymenos would find especial favor amidst Greeks with such feelings and belief. ”

“ Perhaps it would not be deemed an insult by the majority of our readers, if we inform them that while codfish are generally taken with long lines armed with hundreds and sometimes with thousands of hooks, herrings are caught with nets suspended in the sea by bladders which drift along between the herring-boats. The open meshes are the herrings’ trap, in which those that are caught get hung by their gills. ”

“ Cadmus’s only son, Polydorus, and his son’s son, Labdacus, were strangely spared. Then once more Nemesis rose to the pursuit. The son of Labdacus was Laius, who was unwittingly murdered by his son, Œdipus, and the doom of Œdipus is the subject of the “Œdipus Tyrannus.”
Cithæron still towers on the horizon; in its “winding glens” the infant Œdipus had been exposed and rescued by a vagrant hireling in charge of mountain flocks. But the play takes us back to the city, with its royal palace and temples and market-place. As usual, it is the Thebes of Sophocles’s day that is used for scenery. ”

“ Cadmus meant to offer her up, and went to fetch water from a fountain near, but as he stooped a fierce dragon rushed on him. He had a hard fight to kill it, but Pallas shone out in her beauty on him, and bade him sow its teeth in the ground. He did so, and they sprung up as warriors, who at once began to fight, and killed one another, all but five, who made friends, and helped Cadmus to build the famous city called Thebes. It is strange, after so wild a story as this, to be told that Cadmus first taught writing in Greece, and brought the alphabet of sixteen letters. ”

“ He is known to have made a stay at Tübingen, and it is highly probable that he became personally acquainted with Leonhard Fuchs.
Cordus had always longed to see, under their native skies, the plants about which the ancients had written, and, in fulfilment of this dream, he undertook a long excursion into Italy. He visited many of the towns, amongst others Padua, Bologna, Florence and Siena, travelling partly on foot and partly on horseback, and generally accompanied by his friend Hieronymus Schreiber. The journey was a very trying one to men accustomed to a more northerly climate. ”

“ CODET anxious to give general satisfaction to those who will honor him wih their presence, will exert all in his power to please, after many feats of Horsemanship, he will leap over four Boards separated and together, and will terminate by throwing a back somersett from his Horse, and firing a pair of pistols his Horse in full speed—which was never attempted by any other person but himself. ”

“ CHAPTER XII CADMUS—THE MYRMIDONS Jupiter, under the disguise of a bull, had carried away Europa, the daughter of Agenor, king of Phœnicia. Agenor commanded his son Cadmus to go in search of his sister, and not to return without her. Cadmus went and sought long and far for his sister, but could not find her, and not daring to return unsuccessful, consulted the oracle of Apollo to know what country he should settle in. The oracle informed him that he should find a cow in the field, and should follow her wherever she might wander, and where she stopped, should build a city and call it Thebes. ”

“ The attendants of Cadmus, in searching for water, had entered a grove sacred to Mars, which was guarded by a mighty dragon. On perceiving him, they turned to fly, but were either crushed in the serpent’s folds, or suffocated by blasts of the monster’s fiery breath. Cadmus, awaiting their return, and becoming impatient at the delay, proceeded to the spot, and found his servants lifeless, while the dragon was basking at his ease upon the grass. The hero, aroused to vengeance, attacked the monster. A terrible combat ensued, in which Cadmus, through the assistance of Minerva, was victorious. ”

“ But Cadmus follows him up and presses the planted point into his throat; until at last an oak-tree stays his backward course and neck and tree are pierced together. The oak bends beneath the serpent's weight and the stout trunk groans beneath the lashings of his tail.
While the conqueror stands gazing on the huge bulk of his conquered foe, suddenly a voice sounds in his ears. He cannot tell whence it comes, but he hears it saying: "Why, O son of Agenor, dost thou gaze on the serpent thou hast slain? Thou too shalt be a serpent for men to gaze on." ”

“ Cadmus loitered behind, whistling idly to himself, and scarcely noticing the cow; until the thought occurred to him, whether this could possibly be the animal which, according to the oracle's response, was to serve him for a guide. But he smiled at himself for fancying such a thing. He could not seriously think that this was the cow, because she went along so quietly, behaving just like any other cow. Evidently she neither knew nor cared so much as a wisp of hay about Cadmus, and was only thinking how to get her living along the wayside, where the herbage was green and fresh. ”

“ Agenor, the father of Cadmus, is a name which the Greeks have given to the Baal of the Phenicians. [89] Cadmus himself, the wealthiest of mortals, who leads home the daughter of a god and a goddess,—who celebrates the first marriage at which the gods assemble, bring gifts and sing,—whose wife was worshipped as the protecting goddess of Thebes, [90] —whose daughters, Ino, Leucothea and Semele, are divine creatures, whom Zeus leads to the Elysian fields, [91] —can only be a god. He seeks the lost Europa, and is to follow the cow which bears the sign of the full moon. ”

“ The color in codiensis is lighter than in nanus. As compared to the new subspecies named below from the Big Horn Mountains to the east, codiensis is of similar size in head-body length, but has a relatively as well as actually longer tail; the hind foot averages longer; the upper molar tooth-row is relatively longer ”

“ If you wanted anything to eat, why didn’t you ask one of the teachers for it?”
“Maybe he chews on codfish in the middle of the night when he can’t sleep, or when he is try [74] ing to solve a problem in algebra,” suggested Randy.
“I don’t do any such thing, and I didn’t take that codfish from the pantry, and you know it!” howled Codfish, in anger. “It’s a put-up job, and you are the fellows who did it! ”

“ Enter Cordenius, followed by Orceres and Sylvius, and attended by other friends, with Guards, &c.
SULPICIUS (advancing eagerly to meet him) .
Cordenius, O Cordenius! hear a friend,
A faithful ancient friend; thy Portia's father!
At Nero's footstool she is pleading for thee,
And will not plead in vain, if thou wilt testify
A yielding mind, a willingness to live.
CORDENIUS.
I am so pleased to die, and am so honour'd
In dying for the pure and holy truth,
That nature's instinct seems in me extinguish'd. ”

“ Cadmus and his Queen transform'd to Serpents.
⁠Mean time, the wretched Cadmus mourns, nor knows,
That they who mortal fell, immortal rose.
With a long Series of new Ills opprest,
He droops, and all the Man forsakes his Breast.
Strange Prodigies confound his frighted Eyes;
From the fair City, which he rais'd, he flies:
As if Misfortune not pursu'd his Race,
But only hung o'er that devoted Place.
Resolv'd by Sea to seek some distant Land,
At last he safely gain'd th' Illyrian Strand,
Chearless himself, his Consort still he chears,
Hoary, and loaden'd both with Woes, and Years. ”

“ Athene disappeared and Cadmus set about the work. He furrowed the soil with his strong arms, took the dragon’s teeth, scattered them in the furrows, and covered them with earth. Lo, instantly the clods stirred, spear points pierced upwards, followed by glittering helmets, bearded heads, and at last the bodies of armed men. The human crop increased until at last a troop of warriors stood before him. Cadmus sprang to his weapons, but one of the warriors said: “Do not arm yourself, Cadmus, but avoid the contest.” ”

“ The helmets pushed their way up, and soon the faces of men were seen underneath, then their shoulders, then their arms, then their bodies; and then, before Cadmus could think, a thousand warriors leaped out of the furrows and shook off the black earth which was clinging to them. Every man was clothed in a suit of brass armor; and every one had a long spear in his right hand and a shield in his left.
Cadmus was frightened when he saw the strange crop which had grown up from the dragon's teeth. The men looked so fierce that he feared they would kill him if they saw him. ”

“ There was only Cadmus left, and at last he crept out of the cave, screening his body behind the bushes, and made ready to take his stand against the serpent. He covered himself from head to foot with a lion's skin. In one hand he carried a javelin and in the other a lance, but in his heart Cadmus carried courage which was a stronger weapon than either of these. Then he faced the serpent, standing in the midst of his [Pg 116] fallen men and looking into its bloody jaws as he lifted a huge stone and threw it straight. It struck the serpent's scales and penetrated to its heart. ”